A new Pixar-themed parade is coming to Disneyland

A new Pixar-themed daytime parade and improvements to the “Star Wars” attraction Star Tours – The Adventures Continue are coming to the Disneyland Resort in 2024. Numerous festivals and celebrations will also be on the theme park calendar for the coming year, which was unveiled Monday morning at the resort.

A reimagined Pixar Fest will return in 2024, with offerings extending to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. The latter will organize a brand new parade during the day entitled Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!. Disney has hosted a Pixar parade in the past, much like the Pixar Play Parade once ran regularly at California Adventure. The latter was retired in 2018, the last time the resort held a Pixar Fest, which took place in conjunction with the opening of Pixar Pier at California Adventure.

As part of Pixar Fest, which runs from April 26 through August 4, Disney will revive the Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular fireworks and projection show for Disneyland Park. Disney promises new scenes for the evening production. For character fans, Disney is bringing Ember and Wade from this year's “Elemental,” as well as the red panda Mei from “Turning Red,” to the parks.

Also on the docket for 2024, which runs from April 5 to June 2, will be the “Star Wars” themed event Season of the Force, which will see the debut of previously announced new scenes for Star Tours. While Disney hasn't provided many details about the added segments, it was revealed at a fan event earlier this year in Florida the character of Ahsoka Tano would be included. An exact date for the premiere of the updated scenes has not yet been released, as a spokesperson says they will debut “during the celebration.”

Also as part of Season of the Force, Disneyland will cement Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge as a fireworks viewing destination with the debut of what it describes as “galactic music” during the evening illuminations. Galaxy's Edge's audio is largely peripheral: sounds designed to emulate a working, livable city. The fireworks soundtrack will give the land some more traditional theme park-like trappings. Finally, in Season of the Force, Space Mountain will once again be converted into Hyperspace Mountain for the duration of the event.

Concept art for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, coming to Disneyland in 2024 in the former Splash Mountain space.

(Disney)

The coming year will be a year of transformation for the parks and the surrounding Downtown Disney District. The highlight will be the makeover of Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, which will transform the New Orleans Square and Critter Country areas of the park. Splash Mountain closed in May and renovations are underway. Disney did not set an opening date for Tiana's Bayou Adventure when releasing the 2024 calendar, but it is expected to be in the second half of 2024.

Previously announced, the new version of Paradise Pier Hotel to Pixar Place Hotel will launch on January 30, and the popular nighttime Disneyland show Fantasmic! returns on May 24. The latter has been closed since a Maleficent dragon figure went up in flames last spring, and Disney has teased a reimagined grand finale. New restaurants are coming to Downtown Disney, including dumpling palace Din Tai Fung and the Mexico-centric Paseo and its Céntrico outdoor bar/restaurant district. Opening date windows for the dining options have not yet been determined.

Red Panda Mei anchors one "To blush"theme float.

The Disneyland Resort has also set dates for a number of returning fan festivals. Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure Park takes place January 23 through February. 18; the concert-oriented Celebration Gospel will be performed at Disneyland on February 17 and 24; the Disney California Food & Wine Festival takes place from March 1 to April 22; the resort-wide Halloween season will start even earlier next year, starting on August 23 and ending on Halloween; California Adventure's Plaza de la Familia Día de los Muertos celebration is scheduled for August 23-November. 2; and finally, the resort holidays start on November 15th.

Disneyland will continue a few specially reserved nightly events. Disneyland After Dark will return in early 2024, although the resort has not yet revealed themes for the events, and the popular Halloween event Oogie Boogie Bash, which Disney California Adventure usually sells out, will also return. No announcements have been made about some fan-favorite shows coming in 2023, including Disneyland's Magic Happens parade and Disneyland's nighttime Wondrous Journeys show. A spokesperson says details about a “return of Magic Happens” will be shared at “a later date.”

The announcements come after Disneyland raised prices in October and also launched a number of money-saving promotions. In October, Disneyland increased single-day admission prices on its most popular days by nearly 9%, while parking fees rose nearly 17% and the cost of using the ride-jumping Genie+ service rose 20%. Parking at the Disneyland Resort starts at $35 per car.

The lowest priced ticket for a one-day visit on low-demand days at Disneyland and California Adventure has remained at $104 since 2019. The daily ticket for highest demand days, which was $179, was recently increased to $194, an increase of 8.4%. increase. Prices for other levels rose between 3.9% and 8.9%. A park hopper add-on costs $65, making some single-day multi-park tickets as high as $259 on some days.

Concept art for the new rooms at the Pixar Place hotel shows an influx of animation-themed artwork.

Disneyland also currently has a cheaper ticket offer for Southern California residents. Each resident who pays $225 will receive three one-park tickets per day that can be used on separate visits from January 2 through June 2. This discount amounts to $75 for each admission.

With the three-ticket package, suitable for children or adults, you can choose to visit Disneyland or Disney California Adventure each time. The $225 offer is valid Monday through Thursday, as those taking advantage of the promotion will be blocked on Fridays and weekends. A Disneyland spokesperson has clarified that those who want to visit the theme parks on a Friday or a weekend can do so for $275, or about $92 per day.

The deal cannot be combined with other promotions, but may be combined with other deals as Disneyland continues to operate. Special ticket offer for children allowing children between 3 and 9 years old to visit for $50. The latter runs from January 8 to March 10.